But are japanese usually buying presents for new year?

Christmas is usually a more romantic thing in Japan, while New Years is a family thing. That would explain the ballads she releases during this time of the year :)

I love the cover!!! It´s OUTSTANDING!!!!

But I must say I don´t like the nail art... They could have done it better...

yeah, her boobs do look big.. lol.

great pics though, thanks for sharing!

YES! these are BEAUTIFUL covers!!!! i love them. so simple but gorgeous... and i love her hair color. it looks so good with her skin tone. looking forward to the songs!!!

i love her hair so much. i really hope she keeps it this color for a long time. i want to hear the new songs so bad ;_;

i wonder who shot the covers. i mean it's likely that it's kazu as usual but it would be cool if they were actually shot by someone else for a change.

Well it's actually a music box version but with vocals (just different vocals than the original mix's vocals). ^^

Traditionally yes, it is the bigger holiday. But Japanese are also very Christmas crazy - much of the gift giving is on Christmas these days. Usually for New Years, gifts of allowance are given (money). Then there is also the fact that many stores are closed on New Years and a few days after.(Which is why instead of coming out January 1st, which would be the normal release date, the cd will be in stores by the 29th which gives at least 2 days of buying before stores shut down.)

OMG!! Covers are magnificent!!! I love the CD+DVD A!! :D Thank you for posting everything

The cover is really lovely!!! I love it. I think the covers have the same concept with Together When... cover.

she looks so cute! but the lighting kinda makes her hair seem a bit gray-ish, so to me, she looks a bit older, lol. but it's probably just the lighting of the pics. either way, ayu looks great :D

btw, i really like that tattoo in the last picture :P

I think that maybe the Countdown Live and the Kouhaku could help with her sales, despite the possibility of store closures during the new year day...

And the NHK drama tie-in and the Disney tie-in could really help lure in more sales...

is this the same as an orgel version?

Yep it is. An orgel is a music box. :)

thanks, but ugh, I don't like orgel, so boring, I don't mind like a short 30 second type of jewelry ballerina box type of thing as a prelude to a song or something, but a full 4 minutes of that is really annoying.

omg I haet u now </3 Music box vers' are amazing bb

they're just so boring, I had one on my computer, final distance and I just deleted it, I don't know how I let it stay on my computer for so long, a few years now? Orchestra's are amazing, orgels are boring. "twinkle twinkle twinkle twinkle ding ding ding ding ding" for 4 minutes, nothing special about that.

^^Agreed, but maybe the re-worked vocals will make it worthwhile?

Oooh a period drama! Could it possibly be NHK's yearly taiga drama? Taiga dramas usually last up to 40-50 episodes, and if Ayu's song is used as it's theme or insert song, wow. People would be able to hear the song throughout the year. There may also be a possibility that the song will have a traditional feel. Awesome.

I read the author's wiki, and the most likely novel it's based on is Soukyuu no subaru (蒼穹の昴) -- Pleiades of the Blue Sky/Seven Sisters of the Blue Sky (Seems like Pleiades is a type of star clusters?)